Music producer Phil Spector loses voice, now in facility for sick inmates

Phil Spector (L) in a handout released by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Corcoran, California, in 2013 and Spector (R), in court after he was convicted of second-degree murder in Los Angeles, California in 2009. (Reuters/Reuters)

Throat polyps were responsible for the 74-year-old Spector losing his voice, said his lawyer Chuck Sevilla.

The producer, known for his work with the Ronettes, the Righteous Brothers and the Ramones, is doing 19 years for the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson.

Spector is currently incarcerated at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton, which provides care for sick inmates.

Phil Spector as he appeared while awaiting trial on a murder charge. (NICK UT/AP)

"I believe he is able to walk; he's lost a lot of weight; he's been unable to speak for nine months due to polyps in his throat which they keep telling him they're going to perform surgery on," Spector's lawyer told the Mirror, noting the surgery has not been performed.

"That's just one of his many maladies," the lawyer added. "He is in his 70s, and he was not in the best condition going in."

Earlier this week, two mugshots of the producer were released, showing a balding pate that he had covered during his trial with an assortment of wacky wigs.